Knitting-machine



I 5 Sheets--Sheet l. W. ROBERTS.

KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 284,673. Patented Sept. 11, 1883.

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(No Model.) 5- Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. ROBERTS.

KNI'TTING MAGJINB.

No. 284,673. Patented sept. 11, 188s.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

W'. ROBERTS.

KNITTING MACHINE. No. 284.673. Patented Sept. 11, 1883.

(No Model.)

. 5 Sheets-Sheet 4. W. ROBERTS.

KNITTING MACHINE.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

` W. ROBERTS.

KNITTING MACHINE. Patented Sept. l1, 1888.

. Znvezzaz- NITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

VILLIAM ROBERTS, OF CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 284,673, dated 'eptember 11, 1883.

' Application filed January 2, 1883. (No modeh) i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM ROBERTS, o Canton, in the county of Norfolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented a .certain new and useful Improvement in Knitting Machines, of which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication.

Myinvention is designed as an improvement on the well-known Lamb knitting-machine, 7 or that class of knitting-machines .which have fiat beds and latch-needles; and it consists in a knitting-machine provided with an attachment or shifter, 7 having a novel construction and arrangement of the parts, as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed, by means of which the stitches or loops may be shifted from one needle or one set of needles to another, and cross-ribbed or ornamental work produced with much greater facility and in a better manner than the same can be accomplished on machines of f this character as ordinarily constructed.

Figure l is an isometrical perspective view of this improved loop-shifting attachment for knitting-machines fully elevated and out of use. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a comb or shifter, forming part of said improved shifting attachment, in connection with a portion 'of theneedle-bed and a series of needles, said' shifter being shown as partially depressed, or in the first position in which it is used. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the attachment in connection with a portion of the needle-bed,a series of needles, and means for counterbalan cin g the attachment, sai d shifter being` shown as partially elevated and in the second position of its movement, Fig. 4, a perspective view of the comb or shifter in connection with a portion of the needle-bed and aseries o f4 needles, said shifter beingshown as depressed and in the third position of its movement; Fig. 5, a perspective view of a portion of the needlebed, a series of needles, and the shifter in connection therewith, said shifter being shown as partially depressed and in the rfourth position of its movement. Fig. Gis a perspective view of a portion of the needle-bed, a series of needles, and the shifter in connection therewith, the latter being shown as partially .elevated and in the fifth position of its movement. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the needle-bed, a series of needles, and a portion of the carriage, the latter being shown as passing from left to l right and provided with the latch-opener and guard. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a portion of the needlebed,a series of needles, and a portion of the carriage, the latter being represented as passing from left to right, and provided with the latchopener and guard.` Fig. 9 is a view of a piece of a fabric produced in knitting machines provided with this attachment, the part produced by this improvement being represented -at y and ordinary web at z. Fig. l() is an end view of a knitting-machine having my shifting attachment applied thereto.

Like letters of refereneeindicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings. The nature and operation of the improvement will be readily understood by alleenversant with such matters from the following explanation, its extreme simplicity rendering an elaborate description unnecessary.

In the drawings, A represents a portion of 8o a needle-bed, showing a series of needles provided with latches and otherwise of Yordinary construction, these parts being also arranged in the usual manner.

Projecting from the rear portion ofthe framework of the machine, at one end of the same, are two brackets, B B, provided with' the uprights G and carrying the horizontallyarranged rod D, as best seen in Figs. l and 3.

Pivoted by their lower ends to the rod D there are two swinging arms, E E, connected at their centers by the rod G, and at their upper or free ends by the rod H. These arms carry the comb or shifter, consisting of the horizontal bar L, superposed sliding bar K, teeth M, and arms N. The teeth are composed of wires bent into elongated loops, as shown in Fig. 1,' the ends ofv the wires being cast or firmly secured in the butts P, which are attached to the bar K by mea'ns of the screws a. The .arms N are pivoted at their inner ends tothe rod H, and firmly vattached at their outer IOO or free ends to the bar L, being also connected to the bar O Iby the screws g. The bar K is 'arranged to slide horizontally on the bar L by means of the screws and slots m m. rIhe teeth M are arranged in parallelism with'each other and on a plane with the top of the bar L, being grouped as shown in Fig. 1, each group consisting of four teeth. The distancebetween the teeth is just double the distance between that of any two of the needles, and the distance between the groups three times the distance of that between the needles, or such that when the shifter is brought forward into contact with the needles there will be one needle between each pair of the teeth and three needles between each pair of the groups, as best seen in Figs. 2 and 4.

In machines of this character as usually constructed fancy work may be produced by shifting or transferring the loops or stitches n from one needle to another by hand in a manner which is too well understood by all prac tical knitters to need explanation; but the operation is slow and laborious, and cannot be performed satisfactorily without stopping the machine, as in effecting the transfer the operator is liable to break the needles and stitches, thus producing imperfect work and causing delay. My improvement is designed to obviate these diiiiculties and objections; and to that end I make use of two combs or shifters, disposed at the rear of the machine and arranged above the plane ofthe needles, as seen,

rrespecting' one of the Shifters, in Figs. 3, 4,

and 5. As both of the shifter-s are precisely the same in construction, it is not deemed necessary to show or describe but one, it being understood that the other is disposed at the opposite end of the machine and operates in substantially the same manner.

Attached to either end of the ordinary carriage, S, of the machine there is an opener, Q, and a guard, R, a part of the right-hand portion of the carriage being exhibited in Fig. 7 and of the left-handportion in Fig. 8, provided 'with these appliances. The opener and guard both project inwardly from the ends of the carriage, being arranged in a horizontal position immediately over the needles in parallelism with the bed of the machine.

The opener Q consists of a wire having'a sharp point, adapted to pass under the latches and throw them back or open them as the carriage S traverses, thereby Vpreparing the needles for the first operation of the comb or shifter, as hereinafter described. The guard R is also of wire,y and its outer end is bent inward in the form of a hook. The Vends of the opener and guard overlap each other, the point of the opener passing the inwardly-bent end of the guard. When the carriage moves from right to left, the guard on the left keeps the latches down as they are drawn against the upper side of the gib and tend to close, the opener on the right operating at the same time to open the latches, and the guard on the right serves also to keep the latches down in front of the opener, and its point prevents the sudden opening of the latches with such force as to cause them to rebound, and vice versa.

In Figq7 the carriage is shown as passing.

from right to left, the point of the opener Q being represented as just passing under the latch of the needle q, the point x of the guard It being oversaid needle and in a position to prevent the sudden opening of the latch. As the opener continues to advance, and by the time its point reaches the next needle, d, the end x of the guard R will have passed the needle q, and thus permit the latch to open or fall back past the end of the guard. The opener, from its point to about the middle ofits body, at f, Iis curved downwardly in such a manner as to act upon the latches to fully open the saine, the process being commenced at the point of the opener and completed at f as the opener advances over the needles.

In Fig. 8 the carriage is represented' as advancing from left to right, the opener Q and guard R working in substantially the same manner as described for the corresponding parts in Fig. 7.

It will be understood that the openers and guards do not traverse the entire length of the machine in either direction, and that, being attached to the opposite ends of the same carriage and arranged to point in opposite directions, when those on the right advance,

those on the left recede, and vice versa. It will also be understood that the openers have special reference to the Shifters, and are designed to act only upon the needles in those sections of the machine which are opposite the Shifters. It will also be understood that the comb or shifter is not used in connection with the needles on the back side of the machine or rear needle-bed, the needles on said bed being designed to do plain knitting.

In the use of my improvement, the machine, having been properly supplied with yarn, is started up by having power applied to the .same `in the ordinary manner, and after the openers at the right or left hand of the cartriage, as the case may be, have opened the latches of the needles, the shifter J is advanced or drawn forward by the hand of the operator and placed in the position shown in Fig. 2, Qthe teeth M being hooked over their correspending needles, all of the needles being ',down and the latches open. After the teeth iof the shifter have beeen caused to engage the hooks of the needles, the shifter is raised or lpushed back, drawing the needles to which the teeth are attached upward through their respective stitches or loops, as shown in Fig. 3, causing the stitches to slide downward onto ,the bodies of the needles, and leaving the latches open. The parts being in the position last described, andas shown in Fig. 3, the operator now,A takes a thin strip of metal or wood, which, for convenience, may be one rfoot long, one and one-half inch wide, by one-eighth of an inch in thickness, and, plac ing it under the latches of the needles which IOO IIO4

have been drawn up by the teeth, closes the same simultaneously. After the latches have been closed, as last described, the strip is applied to the butts h of the elevated needles, and the needles and teeth of the shifter are drawn down through the stitches or loops. As the needles are drawn down through the loops the latches close, and the loops and stitches are east off onto the teeth. The teeth are then forced down th-rough the loops a short distance, opening the latches of the needles and bringing the parts into the position shown in Fig. 4. NVhen the teeth of the shifter are clear of the hooks of the needles, and have passed a short distance through the loops, the head of the shifter is'turned slightly upward on the rod H, elevating the points of the teeth sufficiently to clear the needles, after which the bar K is moved to the right to bring the teeth over the next adjoining needles, as seen in Fig. 5, the slots m in said plate being of such a length as to stop the teeth in a proper position when so moved. rllhe teeth being now over the adjoining needles, as described, the teeth are depressed, causing them to engage the hooks ofthe needles, after which the shifter is elevated, drawing the needles with which the teeth are engaged upward, and casting the loops on the teeth off onto the needles, as shown in Fig. 6, thus leaving a needle between each pair of the teeth without any loop, and giving to each of theneedles'i, with which the teeth are engaged, two loops. The parts being in the position last described, the teeth are now disengaged from the needles i, and the needles drawn down to place by means of the thin metallic strip, preparatory to repeat ing the operation. The shifter, having now been moved from left to right, will at the next operation change or shift a series of stitches from right to left; or it may be moved back again to the left and change them from left to right, as in the first instance; or two or more changes may be made from left toaiglit, alternating with two or more from right to left, in accordance with the styleof work being done. The shifters at either end of the machine are worked alternately, or rst one and then the other, as the machine operates, and the shifted stitches are knitted into the fabric at each traverse of the carriage, and before each working of the shifters.

It will be obvious that instead of two shifters, las described, one or more may be used with each machine, if desired, and that the number of teeth in each group and theA distances between the teeth,and also between the groups, may be varied in accordance with the style of work to be produced.

It will be seen that the joints in the shifter, formed by pivoting the arms E E to the. rod D and the arms N N to the rod H, performv an imp crtant function, as they permit the shifter to be moved back and forth, or toward and away from the needles, and its teeth elevated and depressed, as required. A cord, T, attached tothe rod H and passing over the rod U, has a weight (not shown) at its lower end, which acts as a counter-balance to the shifter, thereby rendering it easier to manipulate it, as described.

The bar O, when the shifter is pushed back from the machine, comes into contact with the arms E E, and thereby prevents the teeth M from dropping too low; but instead of this bar, any other convenient stop for the same purpose may be employed.

The slots m correspond in length with the distance the teeth M are moved laterally, thus serving as gages to govern their movements in that respect.

The combs or shifters described are operated by hand, the machine being run by hand or power, as most convenient; but the shifters may be operated by power, if desired, by means of proper appliances for that purpose, which I propose to make the subject-matter of other Letters Patent, and therefore do not describe or claim the same herein.

By making the shifter-teeth M in the forni of elongated loops, as shown, they not only serveas hooks to draw up the needles, but are also adapted to pass through the stitches, receive them from the needles, and cast them off onto the adjoining needles without danger of breaking the stitches, there being no projections on the teeth on which the yarn can catch.

Having thus explained my invention,what I claim isl. The combination, substantially as set forth, of a needle-bed, a series of needles, and

a comb or shifter for changing the loops or stitches from one needle or series of needles to another, the teeth of said comb or shifter being adapted to engage the needles and draw the same through their loops or stitches, and the needles being adapted to be drawn there by through their loops or stitches, said teeth being also adapted to pass with the needles back through the loops or stitches, and to receive the loops or stitches from the needles and east them off onto adjacent needles.

2. rlhe combination, substantially as set forth, of a needle-bed, a series of needles, and a comb or shifter for changing the loops or stitches from one needle or series of needles to another, the distance between the teeth of said comb or shifter being equal to or greater than twice the distance between the needles, said teeth being adapted to engage the needles and 1draw the same through their loops or stitches, and the needles being adapted to be drawn thereby through their loops or stitches, said teeth being also adapted to pass with the needles back through the loops or stitches, and to receive the loops or stitches from the needles and cast them off onto adjacent needles.

3. The combination, substantially as set forth, of a needle-bed, a series of needles, and a comb or shifter for changing the loops or stitches from one needle or series of needles to another, the teeth of said comb being arranged in groups, the distance between the groups being equal to or greater than three times the IOO IIO

distance between the :needles in the needlebed, said teeth being adapted to engage the needles and draw the same througli their loops or stitches, and the needles being adapted to be drawn thereby through their loops or stitches, said teeth being also adapted to pass with the needles back through the loops or stitches, and to receive the loops or stitches from the needles and cast them off onto adj acent needles. v

4. The combination, substantially as set forth, of a needle-bed, a series of needles, and a comb or shifter for shifting the stitches, the teeth of "said comb being arranged in groups, the distance between the teeth of each group being equal to or greater than twice the distance between the needles of said bed, and the distance between the groups being equal to or greater than three times the distance between the needles, said teeth being adapted to cn-4 gage the needles and draw the same through their loops or stitches, and the needles being adapted to be drawn thereby through their loops or stitches, said teeth being also adapted to pass with the needles back through the loops or stitches, and to receive the loops or stitches from the needles and'cast them off onto adjacent needles.

5. The bar K, carrying the teeth M, and provided with slots and screws m on, in comthe stitches, the carriage S, and the curved i opener Q, attached to said carriage and arranged horizontally. over said needles, said opener being adapted to open the latches of the needles, substantially as described.

, 7. rlhe combination of a needle-bed, a series of needles, means for shifting or changing the stitches, the carriage S, the opener Q, and the guard R, substantially as described.

S. A tooth for shifting the stitches in knitting-machines, composed of a single piece of wire bent into the form of an elongated loop, the open end of the loop being secured in a butt, substantially as described.

9. A stitclrshfting comb for knitting-machines, consisting of a series of teeth each tooth being composed of a single wire bent into the' form of an elongated loop, and having suit able butts, into which the open ends of said loops are inserted, substantially as described.

VILLIAM ROBERTS.

Vitnesses:

TrroMAs E. GROVER, PETER DALY. 

